Clarence Ford talks to piano virtuoso Isaac van der Merwe, who shares the intricacies of his craft and reveals the parallels between music and life. He reflects on the importance of embracing imperfection and the role of practice in mastering his instrument.

Isaac van der Merwe chose the pieces below if listeners want to experience the classical music that moves him.

In Isaac's own words: Putting 'classical music' into Spotify doesn't really work; you get some pretty random stuff. Recordings from my heroes, playing that inspires me, of my favourite pieces. And if Cape Talk has some sort of Linktree or an equivalent/some bit of your site where this could go, we can put links to them there. They are on YouTube (Classical music was never written to be recorded and spat out by a speaker. It was written by people to be played by people for people. So the live recordings/recordings of performances are generally my favourite... imperfect, raw, daring, greater magic).

Live recordings I love 

Something new: 

Yunchan Lim (just 18 years old) gives his winning performance of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in the finals of the 2022 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition: 

https://youtu.be/DPJL488cfRw?si=JGntkyBJMbZwirs_ 

Something old: 

Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in a performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony (1947): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMJYjPKaLEY 

Something short & sweet: 

Vladimir Horowitz plays Träumerei (Dreaming) from Schumann’s suite Kinderszenen (Scenes of Childhood) in his legendary 1986 Moscow recital, having returned to his home country for the first time in 61 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z82w0l6kwE  

Bonus – recordings of Rachmaninoff (1873-1943) himself playing: 

Rachmaninoff plays his own arrangement of Kreisler's Liebesleid (Love’s Sorrow): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wODzXCuVHg 

Rachmaninoff plays Chopin’s Waltz in C-sharp minor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-VWPXZYpY 

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